President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered the Nigeria Customs Service to return food items that were confiscated at border communities to owners on the condition that they would be sold in the Nigerian markets.
The Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed this in Katsina Saturday during an interface with residents of border communities in Kongolam and Mai’Adua border stations.
He said President Tinubu has decided to exercise his power not in accordance with the law, “but according to the feelings of magnaminty that he has for Nigeria”.
He said: “In doing so, he has directed that those food items that were going out of the country that have been seized in various border areas should be returned to the owners on the condition that those goods would be sold in the Nigerian markets.
“So, we will be monitoring you to know if there is a violation of this. Those food items will be returned, and it is a directive that we will pass them back into the Nigerian markets.”
He explained that Nigeria was in an emergency food situation, and the Nigeria Customs Service will continue to take proactive measures to tackle exportation of food items in order to curb food insufficiency.
The Customs boss said the nation has an Export Prohibition Act that proscribed the exportation of food items such as maize, millet, yam, beans and sorghum, adding that the law would be reviewed when the nation is self-sufficient.
He added that the Nigeria Customs Service would continue to monitor to ensure that food that is produced in the country remains and is consumed by Nigerians to tame food inflation.
Adeniyi said: “We know that there are markets around our borders and we know that not all of them are targeted at taking goods across the borders. We will continue to monitor and ensure that food that is produced in Nigeria remains and is consumed in Nigeria.
“This is because we are in a period of National Emergency that has to do with food insufficiency and this is why we must collectively work together to assist the government to enforce the various laws that prohibit the exportation of food items at this time.
“There is an Export Prohibition Act which currently disallows the exportation of food items like maize, rice beams, yam, millet and sorghum. Food security is very, very important. If our people are in hunger, they can be lured into certain criminal activities.”
He therefore urged residents of the border communities to assist the government in implementing the various rules that prohibit the exports of food items and other essential commodities.
During the visit, CG Adeniyi paid homage to former President Muhammadu Buhari in his Daura country home, the Emir of Daura, Dr. Faruk Umar Faruk, and some border stations in Katsina state.
Francis Sardauna in Katsina
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